Local woman celebrates a century of life

IDAHO FALLS — When Verna Bowen was born it was during the turmoil of the First World War and she grew up in the subsequent Great Depression.

“I was raised during the depression,” Bowen said. “My dad worked for the post office, so he had a steady job. It was a small community, everybody planted a garden and we just shared. I didn’t know we were in a depression. My dad was one that had to see that everybody had something; if we had something then he would see that the neighbors had something too.”

Bowen looked back at her life on Wednesday in Idaho Falls when she turned 101.

She grew up in Utah living in both Salt Lake City and Bountiful. She recalls that life as a child in the depression was much different of children today. There were no cellphones, video games or television to keep children entertained, when Bowen was a child.

“We had to make our own fun,” she said. “We played on the tricky bars (monkey bars), and played jacks.”

Bountiful was a small farming community and to earn extra money Bowen began working at the age of 10.

“I started working out in the field picking beans, berries, cherries and peaches,” She said. “It helped me to take care of what I needed. I didn’t get much, but it helped.”

During World War II Bowen found herself raising her two sons on her own, often working three to four jobs to make ends meet. She worked for 25 years, in Bountiful’s second irrigation district as an executive secretary.

She also worked as a waitress and in various doctor’s offices, as well as her volunteer work as an ordinance worker in the Salt Lake City Temple for The Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints for 14 years.

“Mom has always been a hard worker,” son Jim Hart said.

Bowen’s sons joked about having been raised in a barn during the Second World War. “When she and my dad first got married and had Gene and me they lived in a one room barn,” Hart said.

The barn, Hart explained was on the property of Bowen’s brother who had done some remodeling on the barn.

At the age of 96, Bowen’s sons decided it was time to move her closer to them, so they packed her up and moved her from her home in Bountiful to Idaho where she spends some time with Jim in Idaho Falls and Gene in Riverside.

“I thought maybe I would be here a year,” Bowen said. “Now it has been five years. I never would have thought I would live this long.”

In 2016, shortly after her 100 birthday, Bowen hurt her knee and convinced doctors to do surgery to replace her knee.

“They didn’t want to do it,” She said. “They ran tests and told me I was healthy enough to handle the surgery.”

Bowen is out every day, weather permitting, taking her walk around the block, assisted by her walker. Her son’s say she is very independent, even doing her own laundry and washing the dinner dishes. Bowen said that is the secret to her longevity.

“Work hard, eat right and be happy,” She said. “Be happy, in spite of life’s challenges.”

CORRECTION:A previous version of this article misspelled Verna Bowen’s last name. It has since been corrected. EastIdahoNews.com apologizes for the error.